Engagement of Local Councils and Community Structures in Improved Normative Frameworks to Eradicate Child Marriage

Child marriage remains an issue in Malawi as its prevalence remains one of the highest in the world. Evidence points to girls being affected disproportionally with one out of six girls are married off before the age of 15, compared to one out of nine boys married before the age of 18. The problem has led to multiple negative outcomes for the girls: dropping out of school, teen pregnancies and health complications, including death. Despite its interventions, Malawi has registered an insignificant decrease in child marriage in recent years. The main cause is understood to be the lack of sustainability and coordination of the projects and programs as a result of the exclusion of some key actors in the course of implementation. This project aims to strengthen the structures and ensure that the district councils and community leaders are accountable for the issue. This will create an environment with active urgency on the issue. The project will use the approach of raising awareness in communities and empowering the girls and communities to take part in ending child marriage. As its main objective, it will ensure that the district councils have bylaws on child marriage and that the development plans include specific and realistic interventions to end child marriage.